Tele-Squirt, Squirt, Snorkel

Everyone knows the Engine Company, most have a Ladder or Rescue but these are the three trucks we don't see much of. For those departments with them what advantage they bring? Would you purchase another in the future? For all of us who don't would you ever consider one of the above? I see the advantage in a tele-squirt getting a short boom up to assist the Ladder Company in a location that could be hard to reach, or other Rescue Op's. As with the Squirt having another elevated master stream is also helpful on the fireground. Discuss!

My volunteer department has a '95 LT as our Truck Co. rig and the last pumper we bought has a 50' Tele-Squrt on it. We bought the tele-squrt to offer some flexibility for the Engine Co. it is assigned to in terms of an elevated master stream. It is NOT, I repeat NOT, intended to replace a Truck Co. on the fire ground. While it could be used for a rescue in a pinch, its designed purpose was fire ground flexibility in regards to master streams.

Would I spec and buy another? Yes. As a replacement for an straight Class A pumper equipped Engine Co.

Would I recommend a similar rig to another department? Yes. But only in regards to adding another master stream option to an Engine Co. and not in place of a Truck Co.

No!!!

We have a '93 Pierce with a 75' tele-squirt and we all hate it. The only reason we bought it was that it was cheap. It's intended use was as the only ladder in our district, 16,000 people - 115 sq. miles. It is a true quint. Full engine compliments plus the stick. It is WAY to light weight to be considered for a ladder. As a master stream it works ok. But, we could have gotten that out of just a squirt. I'm a 220lb fireman and once I gear up I am already pushing the weight limits of the ladder - no way to rescue more people unless we can lean it onto a building. Second time around - no way in he** would we make that mistake again.

My company has a Engine and a Truck. Our truck is a 55' aerial (no not a teleboom a 2 fly aerial). It's also a quint. The short wheel base makes it very maneuverable and the short jacking means it can be set up in the narrowest driveway or alley. It's a 1999 so we're not going to be getting a new one anytime soon, but I would push for a 75' next time. It has a master stream and can operate from the ground like a snozzle but we use it as our ladder since we can go places our sister station's 100' TL can't (that thing takes the whole street to jack)

I don't think NFPA considers that 50ft stick a quint, usually its 75 or above. If the only value to a tele-squirt is possibly using it for rescue then why not just go with the squirt? I went up a telesquirt during FFI once and sure as heck didn't enjoy the process but I see it useful in tight spaces or a rural town that a full out truck company would be overkill on.

A city FD nearby me uses a Pierce Snorkle for tight work around power lines, you can get up and over or under most of them and make a rescue, but you're limited in only being able to rescue 2 people (assuming an operator in the bucket) then you have to come down to off load. Its also a usefull elevated stream device being able to work around power lines.

I see a lot of smaller FD's that would not otherwise have an aerial buying tele's, cheap and infrequently used.

As for NFPA, I can't put my hands on my copy of 1901, but I know a lot of telesquirts fail to meet the definition of a Quint by not having enough ground ladders as well as aerial capacity. If I remember I'll post a more difinitive answer when I find my 1901 (may be in my office at the FD).

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